“He's important but not that important, the same as me. They have to show it on the pitch, don't make it more important than it is. I always respect people in football.”

Of more concern tomorrow night will be putting in a good display in what Jol sees as easily the toughest Europa assignment so far following serene progress against NSI Runavik of the Faroe Islands, Crusaders of Northern Ireland and RNK Split of Croatia.

“The games are getting tougher, yes,” said the Fulham boss.

“Split were a good side, but this is probably a different kettle of fish. It's a good team if you know the level of football over there.

“They've got a couple of very good teams and it's a strong league. They are probably the third best in their league behind Kiev and Donetsk.

“They play at a high tempo and are technical, skilful and if they are in your half, they know exactly what they are doing so it's a very good football team.

“At home they are always strong so we need a good result tomorrow,” Jol added, admitting he would have preferred the away leg first.

“We created chances on Saturday but not enough for my liking at home. But I think we are good enough to go to the next round. First we have to show we can score goals because that's always the main thing.”